F.R.E.D.

Written Language and the road to truth

The English language (American English for sure) is horrible to understand, even for a native speaker such as myself. I was just watching a video about the Shavian alphabet and the effort that was made to introduce an English alphabet to get rid of most of the issues with the English language. The video claimed to get rid of 1 in 6 letters used in the English Language! Very interesting video. My ability to learn a new alphabet would be a problem. I am barely functioning with my own, native alphabet!

Imagine cutting books down to 5/6ths of their size and still getting the point across with less confusion. The language didn't succeed. We are a stubborn people, after all is said and done.

One of the things that struck me in the video I latched on to was the cost of rewriting everything. I immediately thought, "What if we didn't have to?" What if cars drove to a certain point and stopped without the need for a stop sign? I don't know how many times I was stopped at a stop light and there was no opposing traffic and I thought it would be much more efficient if I was allowed to drive through in such circumstances. How much more efficient would it be and how much would it save in gas and such to have such efficiencies? And to imagine the potential for emissions to be a bit less. I am, of course, the crazy one to want AI and electric cars (especially self-driving cars). (I will skip the opportunity to rant now, you are welcome)

Here is the point you didn't guess I was trying to make: Michigan roads suck, but with self-driving cars and a more efficient system, we might be able to get those potholes fixed! Who is with me?



I am sharing the video in case you want to see it for yourself. I didn't make it to the end of the video myself for lots of reasons...my fault.